Should the church influence communities in grace or truth or both? Jesus came full of grace and truth, therefore the church should do the same. So how does the church extend both to others? Listen to Pastor Mark DeMoss and Deanna Huff as they discuss the matter.

In this vein, the question that the Pharisees in today’s lesson pose to Jesus might also be styled a “squeeze play.” Their question is designed, as my old college roommate from Texas used to say, to put Jesus “between a rock and a hard place.” Their question appears a simple, but a pressing one: should one pay taxes to Caesar or not? But the way it is asked is not so simple. No matter how Jesus answers, it would seem, he is going to put himself in trouble. But we all know how he cleverly avoids the trap. He asks for a coin, and a Pharisee produces one. He asks whose image is on the coin, and, of course, it is Caesar’s. So, he tells them: “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and render to God what is God’s.” While it seems to assume that there is some kind of mixing of politics and religion that shouldn’t be done, it is still never quite clear as to what is Caesar’s and what is God’s. Thus, we still end up feeling squeezed. There seems too much overlap between the two for that not to happen, especially when there are questions of justice and righteous commitment at stake. So, I am suggesting, the choice then that Jesus confronts us with in telling us to render unto God what is God’s, and to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, is first and foremost a choice of whether or not we are going to live as God’s image. What that choice amounts to is this: It means that we do not get to be godly in one situation, say, church on Sunday morning, and ruthlessly ambitious on Monday. But we can be good on Sunday and on Monday -- and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday and Saturday, too. You can worship God all the time, and because you do, you can be a generous person with whatever you are blessed with and you will have gotten it honestly. Then you will have a balanced life because you have taken seriously what is absolute.

For many years, the Roman Empire had tolerated the Israelites. It was largely a pragmatic decision, and it wasn’t necessarily unique to the Israelites. The empire saw Roman citizens as superior to the others, and they looked down upon the peoples they subjugated. The Israelites, also, had a perspective of superiority over others in a sense. They saw themselves as having a special status with God; they were chosen by God. Now, the GENTILES were doing something similar. They were demonstrating sentiments of superiority, but Paul warns them. “All Israel will be saved.”[7] God will keep his covenant — his promise — to Israel, and it’s possible the Gentiles may not be spared. God will keep his promises. His wisdom is greater than ours, and we should not think that our observations of occurrences on earth today will negate his promises. God, though, invites us into his work to make this the true reality. It is part of our Christian vocation to confront injustices of all kinds and to create a reality where our human promise that our Republic could be “one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all” is made true.

What's worse than obvious sin the church? A blatant toleration of it.
17th Century Puritan, John Owen famously said: "Be killing sin or sin will be killing you."
This isn't a manifesto on being bullies and holier-than-thous to confirm the suspicions of the non-religious. Rather, it's a humble recognition of our pride and fear to be faithful in the occasional tough love in church life.

What's worse than obvious sin the church? A blatant toleration of it.
17th Century Puritan, John Owen famously said: "Be killing sin or sin will be killing you."
This isn't a manifesto on being bullies and holier-than-thous to confirm the suspicions of the non-religious. Rather, it's a humble recognition of our pride and fear to be faithful in the occasional tough love in church life.

In light of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding same-sex marriages, we are discussing the topic of homosexuality. The views expressed here represent those of the Elder Board of the Beacon Church. We welcome your comments! Thanks for listening!

Tolerance of today is defined differently then it has been in the past. They have sort of redefined it because really when people tell you to be tolerant today in effect they are telling you not only to accept something but to approve it and even validate it.
But is that really being tolerant?

Tolerance of today is defined differently then it has been in the past. They have sort of redefined it because really when people tell you to be tolerant today in effect they are telling you not only to accept something but to approve it and even validate it.
But is that really being tolerant?